July Speaker Social

Our monthly speaker social! Every month, dames working in games, on game-related projects, or in interactive arts give a brief presentation on their work. Expect fascinating insights into a broad range of disciplines, introductions to rad projects and tools, interesting creators and new friends!

After the talks, we chat, mingle, and share some snacks. All are welcome, and it’s always free!

Do you remember Arc Symphony?

Arc Symphony: its name conjures memories in any gamer. Sitting by your babysitter as they finally finished the miniboss battle on disc 1… you remember it so clearly.

Wait, no. Arc Symphony is a game by Sophia Park and Penelope Evans about fandom in the Usenet era, how fan creations inform our understandings of the works themselves, and most of all, about expressions of identity in the reflection of technology.

Its marketing campaign hit the press because in conjunction with the game itself, it displayed how easily cultural memory can be fabricated and manipulated: it provides a commentary on how gaming canon is formed and upheld through a kind of mythology which then gets reflected in the game, Arc Symphony, itself.

Sophia Park and Penelope Evans will present part-postmortem and part-thesis presentation on what Arc Symphony can teach about fandom and fan expression in games, as well as writing metafiction.

Penelope Evans is a writer and artist working on both self-published games and collaborative projects.

Sophia Park is a narrative designer based in Toronto (predictably!). She’s the founder of Aether Interactive, a game studio about deconstruction and compassion (in that order).

Schedule

About Our Speakers Socials

Our monthly member meeting and social—open to everyone—aims to showcase the work of trans and cis women, nonbinary and queer folks involved with games in a wide variety of roles. Designers, developers, artists, critics, fans, writers, people new to games and seasoned pros are all welcome and have shared the mic at DMG.

It's also a platform for participants to find encouragement, resources and a venue for speaking about their work in a supportive and productive environment.